Olympic Council of Ireland president Pat Hickey was told by a legal adviser to put Transport and Sport Minister Shane Ross “in his place” on the eve of a crunch meeting in Rio on Sunday night.

THERE is an onus on Pat Hickey, president of the Olympic Council of Ireland, to immediately respond to mounting pressure from politicians and the public to clarify the mystery surrounding the scandal of over 1,000 tickets for the games which had been allocated to the OCI, turning up for sale on the black market in Brazil.

Police in Rio de Janeiro say a Russian diplomat trying to repel an attempted robbery on Thursday near the Olympic Park was involved in a shooting that left the assailant dead. The Russian embassy denied any of its employees were involved in the incident.

RIO police backed by helicopters and armoured vehicles invaded a shantytown complex long held by traffickers yesterday, quickly taking over the key drug gang stronghold in a historic victory meant to help make the city safe for the 2016 Olympics.